Evaluating Journals
Once you've identified potential publication venues, it's time to do some exploration and evaluation work. Consider these for each:
Predatory Publishing - A Definition
"Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.”
Tools and Resources
Explore external resources for discovering and evaluating journals, accessing bibliometrics, identifying open source publishers, navigating publisher contracts, safeguarding against predatory publishers, and more. Contact your subject librarian if you need assistance in identifying a journal-matching site suitable to your field, or for any support getting started.
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)Multidisciplinary directory of open access scholarly journals. Journals listed on DOAJ are carefully vetted for credibility and transparency.
- Journals & Congresses PubsHubCompetitive intelligence on more than 6,000 journals predominantly in the health sciences. Includes journal impact factors, circulation numbers, acceptance rates, publication turnaround times, and links to author guidelines.
- Nursing Editors Directory of Nursing JournalsVetted and approved titles within the nursing discipline, evaluated and assessed by the International Academy of Nursing Editors.
- Ulrichsweb: Global Serials DirectoryDetailed information on 300,000 periodicals including newspapers, magazines, and peer-reviewed/scholarly titles. Includes details on abstracting and indexing inclusion, database coverage, and more. The most comprehensive coverage of disciplines and titles available.
- Cabells Journalytics11,000+ verified journals in a variety of disciplines. Includes information on impact factors and Altmetric measures, acceptance rates, author guidelines and more. Allows side-by-side comparison of selected journals. Limited selection of journals in humanities fields.
- MLA Directory of PeriodicalsDetailed information about journals indexed in the MLA (Modern Language Association) International Bibliography, including editorial contact information, frequency, circulation, and submission guidelines
- Humanities Journals Wiki: Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Theory JournalsAn ongoing conversation about individual experiences with particular journals. You can sign up for an RSS feed to follow the conversations. Journals listed in alphabetical order. Comments tend toward the negative, but as the site grows and more people contribute -- a overall view of journal practices will appear.
- European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social SciencesSearch by discipline. Journals are listed with brief information as to whether or not they are peer reviewed, which languages they accept, and active status. This site also offers the opportunity for community review.
- Talk with your Peers, Departmental Colleagues, and MentorsIf you aren't sure about a journal (or conference) talk with your colleagues. They may provide the best metric for you.
- Think. Check. Submit.This site provides guidance for researchers who seek to identify trusted journals and publishers in which to publish their scholarship--whether as monographs, book chapters, or journal articles. Through a range of tools and practical resources, this international, cross-sector initiative of not-for-profit organizations, aims to educate researchers, promote integrity, and build trust in credible research and publications.
- Sherpa Romeo"Sherpa Romeo is an online resource that aggregates and analyses publisher open access policies from around the world and provides summaries of publisher copyright and open access archiving policies on a journal-by-journal basis."
- SPARC AddendumFree tool for helping you navigate your publisher contract. The addendum includes alternative language to propose when you are presented with a publishing contract. The language makes clear how you are able to reuse and share your scholarship in the future.
- Edanz Journal SelectorThe Edanz journal selection tool compares your abstract to more than 12 million articles in over 28,000 journals from across the disciplines to suggest target journals. The platform provides detailed information about each journal.
- Elsevier Journal FinderSuggested matches are limited to content published in Elsevier scientific journals. The content you submit might not be confidential.
- Journal/Author Name Estimator (Jane)Free, confidential website compares user-generated text such as abstracts and introductions to articles indexed through Pubmed and suggests matching journals, authors, and articles.
Safeguard Against Low-Quality and Predatory Publishers
Penn Graduate Center Presentation on Predatory Publishing, Spring 2021
Quality of publication venues varies greatly, even within a well-regarded publisher. It is always a good idea to perform a preliminary investigation into the legitimacy of any publication, but especially of those you are unfamiliar with. Begin by asking these questions/performing these searches, and consult this guide's section on Predatory Publishing for more information and helpful tools:
- If the publication venue states that they are indexed, check to ensure that they actually are.
- Do the people on their editorial board actually exist? Do they list their involvement with the publication on their CV?
- Is the location of the publisher an actual place (e.g., look on Google maps - is it someone's house? An empty lot? A parking garage?)? Can you call them? Does someone answer?
- Search for one of their articles/books in your preferred search engine or database. Does it come up?
- Do you have many unanswered questions about the legitimacy of this publication? Is anyone from their team available to answer them?
- Is the publication venue clear about the publishing process and fess associated with publishing with them?
- Citation chase an older book/article, if possible (e.g., go to Google Scholar, find the publication, and click "cited by #"). Who has cited it and in what context?
- Search for news references to the publication (if this is part of your criteria) or other places where you want your work to show up.
- Can you find the journal/book in the Penn Library catalog/Articles+?
- What does the publication venue do to market your work?